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1. Agnes to her husband William, perhaps April 1440. Margaret to her husband John, probably December 1441. Margaret to her husband John, probably 28 September 1443 three letters are grouped together to exemplify the early relationship between John I and Margaret (nee Mautby). Together they suggest an affectionate and close relationship. While William Paston had set up the first meeting (Letter 1), Agnes at least is clearly concerned that the two get on well and that her son will be happy in his marriage. Letters 2 and 2 show a great deal of affection on Margaret’s part, recounting in Letter 2 the development of her pregnancy, that the midwife will arrive on time even if she has to be wheeled in a barrow and (at the end) that the baby’s kicking is keeping her awake at night. Letter 3 shows both Margaret and Agnes to have been deeply worried about John’s illness and had promised to go on pilgrimages, had paid for a wax image the same weight as John and had sent money for the friars at Norwich to pray for John. This letter also ends with the plea of mothers through the centuries for their sons to eat and drink properly! The relationship between John and Margaret is at the core of the letters up to John’s death in 1466 aged 44. He was often away from home and his letters are much more business-like though in September 1465 he addresses Margaret as ‘My own dear sovereign lady’ and ends his letter with a poem. You get a sense from the later letters that Margaret wrote to her sons of her sense of loss and frustration – she’s angry at the boys for not appearing to honour their father but also at John I himself for not sorting out the family’s land disputes while he was alive. Overall there’s a sadness in witnessing through the letters how the happiness of letters 2 and 3 succumbs to the stresses and separation that resulted from the land disputes.4. Margaret to her husband John during 1448 is one of the most quoted letters because of Margaret’s ‘shopping list’ of weaponry that she feels is needed for the defence of their manor at Gresham against Lord Moleyns. This dispute in some ways, owes its origins to the late marriage of John’s father, William. He married in 1420 at the age of 42 when he’d built up his wealth and position as a lawyer – a sensible decision in one way but when he died in 1444 his eldest son, John was only 22 and lacked the experience and contacts to fight off those who had their eyes on weaknesses in the family’s claims to land. Their chief local rival, John Heydon, was central in encouraging Moleyns to claim Gresham. William Paston had bought Gresham but Moleyns’ wife was related to the previous owner – no-one would have challenged the Paston ownership while William was alive but now that young John was in charge ‘the vultures gathered.’The letter is notable for its identification of weapons, for Margaret’s knowledge of what was needed and for her responsibility for the family lands. When Moleyns’ men took Gresham by force later in the year Margaret had to be manhandled out of the main building according to John’s petition to the 1449 Parliament. The date of these events in 1448 clearly predates the core period of the Wars of the Roses but suggests that Henry VI’s government is failing to secure order in this locality at least. Though it’s dangerous to generalise beyond the particular circumstance of this one dispute it does suggest that Heydon and Moleyns were prepared to risk the King’s anger and felt they had a good chance of success.At the same time normal life goes on as Margaret shifts in the second half of the letter into a shopping list of a different kind – an example of how trade and goods were far from being just locally-based for the gentry – there was a good network of information about who was best to buy from and at what price.5. Elisabeth Clere to John Paston I, before 29 June 1449 - letter 94Another insight into marriage – or the prospect of marriage. As family friend, Elisabeth Clere, writes to John, his sister Elizabeth is under pressure from her mother (Agnes) to marry Stephen Scrope. Scrope has the attraction of being related to local landowner, Sir John Fastolf, but is over twice Elizabeth’s age, a widower with a daughter – and is not the finest figure of a man! Elizabeth’s reluctance to marry Scrope has seen her beaten and isolated but she has asked Elisabeth Clere to write to John to seek his help – and especially to see if he can suggest a better option. Elizabeth eventually married Robert Poynings in 1459 when she was 30 but he was killed at St Albans in 1461. Her second husband, Sir George Browne, was executed by Richard III for taking part in the 1483 rebellion. Her will of 1488 provides a very detailed list of her clothes and other belongings, a valuable source in itself.Again we have to be careful in generalising from this one letter – the Paston Letters reveal both an expectation that marriage will benefit the family as a whole but also that the couple will be happy together (as letters below show). This treatment of Elizabeth by her mother seems to be at one extreme end of behaviour and Elisabeth Clere’s attitude seems to be of sympathy with the daughter, not the mother. 6. William Lomnor to John Paston 1, 5 May 1450 letter 120Lomnor was a lawyer and friend and distant relative of the Pastons and this is a classic newsletter, indicating the speed at which news spread and how it spread around the country. Suffolk was executed off-shore on 2 May but detailed news had reached London by 5 May when Lomnor wrote this letter – which also indicates his eagerness to share what he’d heard. The speed of events and news transmission makes the detail intriguing – who exactly spread this very detailed, eye-witness sounding description? It’s little different from the accounts historians give but we don’t know who brought the news to Lomnor and other London sources. Lomnor reports the detail but may even be more circumspect than some historians, providing a reasonable helping of ‘men say’ and other warnings about the reliability of the information.The reference to Stacy the astrologer is an intriguing insight – that Suffolk had believed the warning to beware of the Tower. Overall there’s a sense of shock and ‘what next?’, akin to news of the assassination of Kennedy to pick one an example I can remember even if the rest of you can’t!He also reports the capture of Thomas Kyriell at the battle of Formigny in Normandy in April – which turned out to be the key defeat in the loss of Normandy. In another letter this would have been the headline news but not in the wake of Suffolk’s murder.7. Margaret Paston to her husband, John, perhaps 20 April 1453 Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England in a very low key way. Her visit to Norwich has caused a flutter but it’s about making sure everyone looks good when they meet the queen and her ladies – don’t want them to think ill of the ladies of Norfolk. This is a reminder that royals and nobles were much more visible to people than their modern counterparts – no flashing past at 60mph in a car but they rode slowly past or walked in towns. Queen Margaret comes across as quite a friendly, outgoing character – who presumably spoke English well – and Margaret Paston is taking the opportunity to get John to buy her a new necklace as she’s had to borrow one for this occasion!What’s not here seems important – no sense of Margaret as the great power behind the throne, no sense of interest in her in that role. A later Paston newsletter of 1456 contains the famous reference to Margaret being ‘a strong-laboured woman’ who arranges everything to meet her will – often quoted without mention of it being a single reference that may not even refer to central government. It’s a good example of the scarcity of contemporary comment leading historians to build whole edifices of interpretation on limited evidence.8. Edmund Clere to John Paston I, 9 January 1455 letter 270King Henry has recovered – hallelujah! That seems to be the gist of this newsletter – however inadequate Henry had been people saw him as their king and welcomed his restoration to health. Henry had been ill – in a coma of some kind – since the summer of 1453 to Christmas 1454 so his recovery after such a time must have seemed remarkable. However this isn’t an instant newsletter – it’s written on 9th January and records events since Christmas Day.Rather like the letter recording Suffolk’s death this provides plenty of detail of events at court but without any indication of who the eye-witnesses were – how did Clere know all this? The answer may again be that with a much smaller population and political class and a more visible monarchy far more people received detailed information that is the case today. More information was to be provided by Richard, the letter carrier who may perhaps have been Richard Calle (see later letters).The portrait of Henry projected here does fit (or did it help create?) the standard image of a religious, possibly unworldly figure ‘in charity with all the world and so he would all the lords were’ – though perhaps this is unsurprising for someone who’s recovered from a major illness.9. Margaret Paston to her husband, John, perhaps 24 December 1459 importance of etiquette! Margaret had sent for information to two households higher in status to find out how to fold Christmas in the wake of a death – in this case Sir John Fastolf. A valuable insight into what people did for fun – and one of the earliest references to playing cards apparently. ‘Playing at the tables’ is backgammon. In John’s absence Margaret is ‘half a widow’ – continued evidence of closeness.And even on Christmas Eve there’s household things to sort out with a new servant needed to run the buttery more efficiently. Margaret wants him to account for spending and use every day and he’s only done it weekly before.10. Clement Paston to his brother John Paston I, 23 January 1461 sense of the pace and uncertainty of events and the way news was spreading by letter and by messenger. The Duke of York and Earl of Salisbury had been killed at Wakefield at the end of December – and here’s news of other casualties and of those who weren’t at the battle because they were with Edward of York at Ludlow. It appears that forces are gathering in London under the leadership of the un-named Warwick to go north to fight the Lancastrian army – and there’s a strong sense of anti-northern feeling, of division between north and south.Clement is telling his brother to come with a strong, well-equipped force, the better to boost his reputation – it seems as if Warwick has sent out letters seeking support (see letters 18). However there is no evidence that John or any of his men fought – just as well as Warwick’s army was beaten at St. Albans.The last paragraph is interesting though not political – the messenger has waited to return with the letter to John, Clement again expresses unease at what’s happening and he does not appear to get on with his sister-in-law Margaret! Families!11. John Paston II to his brother John III, March 1467 next generation of Pastons – John I’s problematically-named sons! John II was away much of the time at court – seeking royal and noble influence for the family benefit and a good marriage for himself (though he never did marry). He became a well-known jouster. In comparison John III stayed much more on the family estates though he did fight at Barnet (for the Lancastrians) and later at Stoke for Henry VII which did much to help the Paston family. In 1467 they are 25 and 23 and their father had died the year before.John II thanks his brother for his work on the family estates, then in para 2 moves onto advising his younger brother on finding a wife. They’d been hoping that Lady Boleyn might consider a marriage between John III and her daughter but she seems firmly against the idea. Despite this John II suggests his brother approach Lady Boleyn himself ‘and bear yourself right lowly’. As later letters show, nothing came of the Boleyn match but John III did make a happy marriage.12. John Paston III to his mother, Margaret, 8 July 1468 two brothers John were among the party accompanying Edward IV’s sister, Margaret to Burgundy for her marriage to Duke Charles. It’s not surprising to find John II there – John III may have gone with him or been in the retinue of the Duchess of Norfolk who was one of Margaret’s principal attendants and he sounds very excited to be part of these events. This is clearly a newsletter but there’s also a sense of ‘look, mother, your boys are doing well, mixing with all these wealthy people.’ Like his older brother John III shows plenty of interest in the jousting – whether his mother was so keen to read about it is unknown!At the end it appears that John has a son though he is not known to have married for another decade – the identities of the boy and his mother are not known.13. John Paston III to his brother John II, May 1469 John III comes across as a likeable character but this letter jars to us today – at least it does to me. John is outraged that his ‘ungracious’ sister, Margery, is in love with the family estate manager, Richard Calle. He may be efficient and capable but he’s a servant! The clearest phrase is where John says he’ll never consent to the marriage as it will end up with his sister selling mustard and cloth on the market. John and the other Pastons are so sensitive because they’re aware that some people see them as a nouveaux riches family and this marriage would give their enemies more reason to look down on them. All this despite Calle being their most trusted servant and a well-educated and trustworthy individual.14. Richard Calle to Margery Paston, 1469 letter 713. Calle was a good deal older than Margery but this letter reveals this to be a strong loving relationship – that they had exchanged vows and saw themselves as man and wife. Calle was sent to London, Margery was kept at home – ‘we that ought of very right to be most together are most asunder.’ The family called in the Bishop of Norwich to interrogate the couple but they continued to express their belief in their vows and this could not be disproved – they married publically late in 1469 and Richard found work for a local convent. He returned to work for the Pastons by 1472.15. John Paston II to his mother, Margaret, 18 April 1471‘We’re OK, Mum, even though we lost’ – the brothers John had been part of the earl of Oxford’s retinue and fought for Warwick against Edward IV at Barnet on 14 April, a battle in which Warwick’s forces were routed. John II reports that John III had an arrow in his arm but it is healing ell and has been treated by a surgeon. He himself has been captured but is in no danger of punishment – a cheery statement which may sound more carefree than perhaps he had felt at first. It’s worth noting that this was written a full four days after the battle – a long enough period for John to have been through much anxiety about how the losers would be punished. There’s also a strong sense of continuing uncertainty of how events will pan out – Margaret has landed with her army and Edward IV is leaving London to intercept her but who knows what will happen – the world is ‘right queasy’.God’s role in deciding the outcome of events is clear but John sounds as if he hopes that next time God will be on the Lancastrian side, more because it will mean that his lord, the earl of Oxford, will return to dominate East Anglia perhaps than loyalty to the royal house itself.16. Dame Elizabeth Brews to John Paston III, February 1477 896. 17. Margery Brews to her future husband, John Paston III, February 1477 897. A happy ending for John III – a love match with Margery Brews. Dame Elizabeth tells John that her daughter is ‘such an advocate for you’ and arranges for him to visit on the day before Valentine’s Day to discuss arrangements with her husband. The first lines suggest that John had already met the family and had been doing his best to make a good impression on them. Dame Elizabeth’s picture of Margery’s love is supported by Margery’s valentine and by the later letters between the two of them. This provides more evidence that the ideal marriage was one that combined benefits to both families with love between the central couple.18. The Duke of Norfolk to John Paston III 994 and 1002Two summons from the Duke of Norfolk, the first to help deal with the 1483 rebels, the second to come and fight for King Richard against Henry Tudor! Two offers John III did not take up – probably fortunately as Norfolk’s force bore the brunt of the fighting at Bosworth and Norfolk himself was killed.These letters show one method used by nobles to recruit men – using their past personal connections and appeals to loyalty to the nobles as individuals and potential benefactors. John did fight at Stoke where he was knighted. ................
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